Global Warmig

When I was young I hated cold weather, I had heard of global warming from the radio/tv so I would always tell my mom I wish global warming would hurry up and happen so it could be summer all year round. Fast forward 10 years, I have a little more knowledge on the subject. Global warming is a huge issue today and affects every part of life on Earth. It does not target a specific group of people, or area on a map, it affects everyone. Global warming leads to climate change, global warming alters plants and animals behaviors, and global warming has a negative impact on people’s lives.

Global warming leads to climate change. One of the most obvious effects of global warming is the rising temperature all over the world. In 2014, according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, also know as the NOAA, the average global temperature increase has been about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years. This may not sound like a huge difference whatsoever but that slight change is causing glaciers and sea ice to melt in the polar regions at a fast rate. Not only are the averages up, but the extremes are as well. The NOAA’s study concluded that nine of the warmest years on record have occurred since 2000, with many cities in the US recording their hottest summers in 2014. Extreme weather patterns also comes with global warming. Scientists project that extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, blizzards and rainstorms will continue to occur more often and with greater intensity due to global warming according to an article found in LiveScience written in 2014. Hotter summers come with global warming, but so do colder winters. Changes in climate can cause the jet stream, which is air currents around the globe, to migrate south, bringing with it cold, Arctic air.

On to the second point, global warming alters plants and animals behaviors. With the weather patterns and environments changing animals are also having to change how they live. According to a national geographic article written in 2015, animals that live in the polar regions are being greatly affected. Penguins that live in Antarctica have gone from a population of 64,000 to just 22,000 over the past 30 years. Wildlife researchers have found that with less ice to live on and fish for food, polar bears are growing considerably skinnier since